FOR failing to adhere to the statutes that set up the Nigeria Premier League (NPL), the December 16 Congress of the league board was illegal, says Akin Akinbobola.This disclosure is against that made by the acting executive secretary of NPL, Tunji Babalola, who told The Guardian that the congress was well constituted just as the suspension of Akinbobola from the board has been officially communicated to him.Akinbobola, a board member whose suspension from the NPL board was announced at the Bayelsa Congress, told journalists yesterday that some days after his purported suspension by the illegal congress, no official letter has been communicated to him.Quoting Article 24 of the NPL Statutes, Akinbobola said the statutes was not followed in the December 16 Congress in Yenagoa, as members were not notified in writing 60 days in advance, while reminders were not sent a month to the congress.'Let me tell you that all these are just efforts to frustrate my appeal,' he said. 'Even those who carried out the purported suspension know that all they did was not in accordance with NPL statutes.'They know it was an exercise in futility because Article 15 of the NPL statutes has clearly spelt out the procedure for an elected NPL board member to be expelled or suspended.'Does it shock you that until now the NPL secretariat has not been able to reply my lawyers, who have requested for an official statement from them on the purported suspension''On his appeal on the September 14 NPL election, Akinbobola said: 'After the high profile error of the September 14 declaration, I decided to follow the football laid-down procedure of appeal in line with Article 12 of the FIFA standard electoral code.'I paid the mandatory fee for the appeal and was supposed to have had my case heard less than two weeks after, but till date that has not happened. I have sent countless reminders and uncountable petitions to the National Sports Commission, the NFF and the NPL and instead of my appeal being heard, it has been one obstruction of justice after another.'He blamed the NPL chairman and the acting secretary for refusing to act on the appeal, while adding that the Yenagoa congress was staged to dissolve the appeal committee. Akinbobola, who also faulted the constitution of the electoral committee that organised the September 14 election in Abuja, said that after the declaration, the NFF boss, Aminu Maigari, had to apologise for the error.
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